Effects of Tuina at"Weizhong"(BL 40)on Synaptic Plasticity in the Hippocampal CA3 Region in Chronic Sciatic Nerve Compression Injury Model Rats
Objective To explore the possible mechanism of Tuina at Weizhong(BL 40)for relieving sciatica from the perspective of hippocampal synaptic plasticity.Methods Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group,model group,Tuina group,MK-801 group,MK-801 plus Tuina group,12 rats in each group.After lateral ventricular cannulation,rats model with chronic compression injury of the right sciatic nerve were prepared in all groups except the sham operation group.On day 4 after modelling,rats in the Tuina group start Tuina at Weizhong(BL 40)for 10 mins once a day for a total of 14 days;rats in the MK-801 group started injecting with 0.25 μg/μl of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor 2B(NR2B)blocker,dizocycline(MK-801),0.5 μl of which was administered daily in the lateral ventricle for 14 days.Rats in the MK-801 plus Tuina group underwent Tuina after 30 mins when complet-ing MK-801 injection in the lateral ventricle,in the same way as above;rats in the model group and the sham opera-tion group did not undergo any intervention.Spontaneous pain behaviour scores and paw withdraw thresholds(PWTs)were examined on day 1(base value)before modelling and on day 4,10,14 and 18 after modelling;and on day 19,the brain tissues of the rats in each group were sampled and the number and morphology of the Nysted-positive cells in the hippocampal CA3 region were observed using Nysted staining;and the number of synapses,the thickness of post-synaptic dense material,the length of active band and the curvature of synaptic interface in hippocampal CA3 region were observed by transmission electron microscopy;and the expression of synapse-associated proteins NR2B and postsyn-aptic density protein-95(PSD95)in hippocampal CA3 was detected by immunofluorescence staining and immunoblot-ting.Results Compared with the same time in the sham operation group,spontaneous pain scores significantly in-creased and PWTs decreased on day 4,10,14,and 18 after modelling in the model group(P＜0.05);compared with the model group,spontaneous pain scores in Tuina group of rats significantly decreased on day 10,14,and 18 af-ter modelling,and PWTs significantly increased on day 14 and 18 after modelling(P＜0.05).Compared with Tuina group,spontaneous pain scores increased on day 10,14,and 18 of modelling,and PWTs decreased at days 14 and 18 of modelling in the MK-801 plus Tuina group had higher spontaneous pain scores on days 10,14,and 18 after modelling and lower PWTs on days 14 and 18 after modelling(P＜0.05).Compared with the sham operation group,the neuronal arrangement in the hippocampal CA3 region of the rats in the model group was disordered,with de-creased number of Nysted-positive cells and synapses,reduced thickness of postsynaptic densities,length of active bands,and curvature of synaptic interfaces,wider synaptic gaps,and decreased immunofluorescent positive expres-sion of NR2B and PSD95 as well as the expression of immunoblotting proteins in hippocampal CA3 region(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,more dense arranged nerve cells,the number of Nysted-positive cells,the number of synapses,the thickness of postsynaptic dense material,the length of active bands increased,the synaptic gap became significantly narrower,and the positive expression of immunofluorescence and immunoblotting protein ex-pression of NR2B,PSD95 increased in the rat hippocampal CA3 region of Tuina group(P＜0.05).Compared with Tuina group,the neuronal morphology of the hippocampal CA3 region in MK-801 plus Tuina group was severely dam-aged,and the number of Nystrom's-positive cells,the number of synapses,the thickness of post-synaptic densities,the length of active bands,and the curvature of synaptic interfaces reduced,the synaptic gaps became wider,and the immunofluorescent positive expression of NR2B,PSD95,and the expression of immunostained proteins decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion Tuina at"Weizhong"(BL 40)showed significant analgesic effect,and one of the possible mechanisms concluded as significantly increasing the levels of NR2B and PSD95 protein expression in hippocampal CA3 region and thus modulating the synaptic plasticity of the hippocampus.
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